The invention relates generally to axle repair methods and apparatus and more specifically to a method and apparatus for repairing vehicle axles at the failure site.
Long haul trucking is perhaps the mainstay of the American material and goods transportation system. In addition to the obvious flexibility of routes and accessibility to receiving and delivery sites provided by local and state roads, the interstate highway system has added speed to the aforementioned benefits. The annual distances which such highways encourage equipment to travel in a year is accompanied by a requirement that the equipment undergo significant preventative maintenance or suffer significant repair and replacement costs.
A mechanical structure of such trucks especially sensitive to the significant mileage often traveled by these vehicles is the axle and wheel bearing assemblies. Unfortunately, although such components are as indispensable as many other more obvious and visible components such as spark plugs and tires, they may be overlooked until they fail. A bearing failure will generally disable the vehicle immediately and it must be towed to a site where repair can be performed. Occasionally, a wheel bearing that has failed can simply be replaced. More often, however, the bearing failure will result in damage to the bearing surface on the axle before it is detected and it may be necessary to replace an entire axle due to the damage caused by the failed bearing.